National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer

The National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards of India since 1968 to a male playback singer for the best renditions of songs from films within the Indian film industry. The award was first granted to Mahendra Kapoor in 1967. The singers whose performances have won awards have worked in nine major languages: Hindi (19 awards), Malayalam (9 awards), Bengali (7 awards), Telugu and Marathi (5 awards each), Tamil and Kannada (4 awards each), and Punjabi (1 award).

National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer
National Award for contributions to Indian Cinema
The 2022 recipient: Arijit Singh
Awarded for	Best Male Playback Singer for feature film for a year
Sponsored by	National Film Development Corporation of India
Formerly called	Best Playback Singer of the Year (1967)
Reward(s)	Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus) ₹2,00,000
First award	1967
Final award	2022
Most recent winner	Arijit Singh, "Kesariya" from Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva
Highlights
Most wins	K. J. Yesudas (8)
Total awarded	54
First winner	Mahendra Kapoor
Website	https://dff.gov.in/Archive.aspx?ID=6

The singer with the most awards in this category is K. J. Yesudas with eight wins for three languages (Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi), followed by S. P. Balasubrahmanyam who won six times for four languages (Telugu, Hindi, Kannada and Tamil). Udit Narayan and Shankar Mahadevan follow next, winning three awards each. The singers Manna Dey, Hemanta Kumar Mukhopadhyay, M. G. Sreekumar, Hariharan and Arijit Singh have bagged this award twice.

Recipients

List of award recipients, showing the year (award ceremony), song(s), film(s) and language(s)
Year	Recipient(s)	Song(s)	Film(s)	Language(s)	Refs.
1967 (15th)	Mahendra Kapoor	"Mere Desh Ki Dharti"	Upkar	Hindi	[1]
1968 (16th)	Manna Dey	"Jhanak Jhanak Tori Baaje Paayaliya"	Mere Huzoor	Hindi	[2]
1969 (17th)	Sachin Dev Burman	"Safal Hogi Teri Aradhana"	Aradhana	Hindi	[3]
1970 (18th)	Manna Dey	• "Ae Bhai Zara Dekh Ke Chalo"  • "Ja Khushi Ora Bole"	• Mera Naam Joker  • Nishi Padma	• Hindi  • Bengali	[4]
1971 (19th)	Hemant Kumar	–	Nimantran	Bengali	[5]
1972 (20th)	K. J. Yesudas	"Manushyan Mathangale"	Achanum Bappayum	Malayalam	[6]
1973 (21st)	K. J. Yesudas	"Padmatheerthame Unaroo"	Gayathri	Malayalam	[7]
1974 (22nd)	Mukesh	"Kahi Baar Yoon Bhi Dekha Hai"	Rajnigandha	Hindi	[8]
1975 (23rd)	M. Balamuralikrishna	–	Hamsageethe	Kannada	[9]
1976 (24th)	K. J. Yesudas	"Gori Tera Gaon Bada Pyara"	Chitchor	Hindi	[10]
1977 (25th)	Mohammed Rafi	"Kya Hua Tera Wada"	Hum Kisise Kum Naheen	Hindi	[11]
1978 (26th)	Shimoga Subbanna	"Kaadu Kudure Odi Banditta"	Kaadu Kudure	Kannada	[12]
1979 (27th)	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam	"Omkara Naadaanusandhanamou"	Sankarabharanam	Telugu	[13]
1980 (28th)	Anup Ghoshal	"Aaha Ke Anondo"	Hirak Rajar Deshe	Bengali	[14]
1981 (29th)	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam	"Tere Mere Beech Mein"	Ek Duuje Ke Liye	Hindi	[15]
1982 (30th)	K. J. Yesudas	"Akasha Desana"	Meghasandesam	Telugu	[16]
1983 (31st)	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam	"Vedam Anuvanuvuna Naadam"	Saagara Sangamam	Telugu	[17]
1984 (32nd)	Bhimsen Joshi	"Thumak Thumak Pag"	Ankahee	Hindi	[18]
1985 (33rd)	Jayachandran	"Sivasankara Sarva Saranya Vibho"	Sree Narayana Guru	Malayalam	[19]
1986 (34th)	Hemant Kumar	–	Lalan Fakir	Bengali	[20]
1987 (35th)	K. J. Yesudas	"Unnikale Oru Kadha Parayam"	Unnikale Oru Kadha Parayam	Malayalam	[21]
1988 (36th)	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam	"Cheppaalani Undi"	Rudraveena	Telugu	[22]
1989 (37th)	Ajoy Chakrabarty	–	Chhandaneer	Bengali	[23]
1990 (38th)	M. G. Sreekumar	"Nadharoopini Shankari Pahimam"	His Highness Abdullah	Malayalam	[24]
1991 (39th)	K. J. Yesudas	"Ramakadha Gaanalayam"	Bharatham	Malayalam	[25]
1992 (40th)	Rajkumar	"Naadamaya Ee Lokavella"	Jeevana Chaitra	Kannada	[26]
1993 (41st)	K. J. Yesudas	"Ksheera Saagara"	Sopanam	Malayalam	[27]
1994 (42nd)	P. Unni Krishnan	• "Ennavale"  • "Uyirum Neeye"	• Kadhalan  • Pavithra	Tamil	[28]
1995 (43rd)	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam	"Umandu Ghumandu Ghana Garaje Badara"	Sangeetha Sagara Ganayogi Panchakshara Gavai	Kannada	[29]
1996 (44th)	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam	"Thanga Thamarai"	Minsara Kanavu	Tamil	[30]
1997 (45th)	Hariharan	"Mere Dushman Mere Bhai"	Border	Hindi	[31]
1998 (46th)	Sanjeev Abhyankar	"Suno Re Bhaila"	Godmother	Hindi	[32]
1999 (47th)	M. G. Sreekumar	"Chanthu Pottum"	Vasanthiyum Lakshmiyum Pinne Njaanum	Malayalam	[33]
2000 (48th)	Shankar Mahadevan	"Yenna Solla Pogirai"	Kandukondain Kandukondain	Tamil	[34]
2001 (49th)	Udit Narayan	• "Mitwa"  • "Jaane Kyon"	• Lagaan  • Dil Chahta Hai	Hindi	[35]
2002 (50th)	Udit Narayan	"Chhote Chhote Sapne"	Zindagi Khoobsoorat Hai	Hindi	[36]
2003 (51st)	Sonu Nigam	"Kal Ho Naa Ho"	Kal Ho Naa Ho	Hindi	[37]
2004 (52nd)	Udit Narayan	"Yeh Taara Woh Taara"	Swades	Hindi	[38]
2005 (53rd)	Naresh Iyer	"Roobaroo"	Rang De Basanti	Hindi	[39]
2006 (54th)	Gurdas Maan	"Couplets of Heer"	Waris Shah: Ishq Daa Waaris	Punjabi	[40]
2007 (55th)	Shankar Mahadevan	"Maa"[41]	Taare Zameen Par	Hindi	[42]
2008 (56th)	Hariharan	"Jeev Dangla Gungla Rangla Asa"	Jogwa	Marathi	[43]
2009 (57th)	Rupam Islam	"Ei To Ami"[44]	Mahanagar@Kolkata	Bengali	[45]
2010 (58th)	Suresh Wadkar	"Hey Bhaskara Kshitijavari Ya"	Mee Sindhutai Sapkal	Marathi	[46]
2011 (59th)	Anand Bhate	"Chinmaya Sakal Hridaya"	Balgandharva	Marathi	[47]
2012 (60th)	Shankar Mahadevan	"Bolo Na"	Chittagong	Hindi	[48]
2013 (61st)	Rupankar Bagchi	"E Tumi Kemon Tumi"	Jaatishwar	Bengali	[49]
2014 (62nd)	Sukhwinder Singh	"Bismil"	Haider	Hindi	[50]
2015 (63rd)	Mahesh Kale	"Aruni Kirani"	Katyar Kaljat Ghusali	Marathi	[51]
2016 (64th)	Sundarayyar	"Jasmine-U"	Joker	Tamil	[52]
2017 (65th)	K. J. Yesudas	"Poy Maranja Kalam"	Viswasapoorvam Mansoor	Malayalam
2018 (66th)	Arijit Singh	"Binte Dil"	Padmaavat	Hindi	[53]
2019 (67th)	B Praak	"Teri Mitti"	Kesari	Hindi
2020 (68th)	Rahul Deshpande	"Kaivalya Gaan"	Me Vasantrao	Marathi	[54]
2021 (69th)	Kaala Bhairava	"Komuram Bheemudo"	RRR	Telugu
2022 (70th)	Arijit Singh	"Kesariya"	Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva	Hindi	[55]

See also

• National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer